Taken by Passion: King of Hearts (Wonderland Book 1) (19 page)

Trust.
Jarronn wanted her to trust him thoroughly, completely. After what she’d been through with all the men in her life, trust was a big word, an important word.

Did she truly trust Jarronn?

He was incredible. He was a
real
man. Powerful and dominant, yet strong and wise, caring, and loving.

Alice sighed and moved her hand to her collar and smiled. Okay, so he could be an ass sometimes, too, but all in all he was pretty damn incredible.

At least that was the face he was showing her now. She would be wise to remember that all is not as it appears to be on the surface.

She thought about Jarronn sharing with her that his sister’s name had been Mikaela and that she was dead. Yet the woman who had visited Alice outside her window had been named Mikaela, too.

Her mind turned to the card that Jarronn had turned over that bore Mikaela’s face—the woman Alice had met. How could that be?

Jarronn never said his sister was dead, just that she was lost to them.

What did it all mean? Alice trusted Jarronn, yet she didn’t think he’d been honest about his sister.

Alice blew out her breath. One thing at a time.

AT LEAST A WEEK WENT BY, according to Tarok days, and Alice was spending another lonely night in her quarters, where Jarronn left her every evening. Scented candles flickered upon every flat surface, and tonight the room smelled of jasmine incense and plum spice. She’d just had her dinner and a bath, and her skin felt clean and tingly and alive.

If only Jarronn hadn’t left her alone again.

Here there were approximately thirty-nine Earth hours in a single Tarok day, so she’d actually been gone over two Earth weeks. Most of her time was spent with Jarronn, but her nights were always by herself. He said it was necessary for her training and that if she continued to progress so quickly she’d be able to join him in his bed soon. Just the thought of sleeping in his strong arms each night and waking up beside him was enough to make her shiver with excitement.

She sighed as she moved to the open window of her room and stared out into the night. The air was still and not even a breeze stirred. From her room she had a breathtaking view of the Kingdom of Hearts, and she especially liked to see it at night. Warm light glowed in cottage windows and she caught the light smell of wood smoke from the hearth fires. Mingling with the smoke were the sweet scents of the zillions of flowers growing in Jarronn’s rainbow gardens.

In contrast to her nights, her days passed too quickly. And,
omigod,
they were incredible. With Jarronn present, Kalina had shaved Alice’s mound so the skin was soft and smooth. The king rather enjoyed licking her, and having it bare made the sensations all the more intense.

Alice’s nipples ached as she thought about how she and Jarronn had fucked just about everywhere remotely private around this castle, including the rainbow garden. She couldn’t get enough of him. She was glad he picked places with a good amount of privacy even though his subjects had sex in the open on a regular basis. He seemed to want her to himself, as if he was possessive of her. It was such a good feeling, one she’d never experienced before.

She’d become so used to being Jarronn’s sub that his rules came automatically to her and she no longer felt shame or embarrassment when she was naked in front of other people. Hell, most of the time everyone else was naked, too. In Tarok people were all sizes, shapes, and hues of the human rainbow, just like Earth, except here everyone was appreciated for who they were.

Alice found it fascinating how being naked in this world made it easier to be around other people who were just as naked. She’d heard that about nudist colonies in her own world. No one had anything to hide behind—no clothes, no material objects, nothing to distinguish them from other individuals who were all part of a larger community. Only submissives wore adornments—basic black collars with silver leashes and nipple rings with dangling hearts. Individuals in this land were friendlier and more personable and outgoing than people from her own world.

After just over one week with Jarronn, Alice was sure she was a born submissive. Well, born to be
his
sub. It was the most amazing feeling—to give up control of her needs, her fears, her inhibitions, and be herself.

She very much enjoyed their “Jarronn and Alice” time, when it was just the two of them and they talked and interacted as equals. It seemed odd to admit to herself, though, that she craved his dominance more than she needed to be on equal footing with him. Or maybe it was how much she enjoyed having power over his pleasure, and the incredible high it gave her to please him.

And yes, now she was confident in her beauty. She felt comfortable with the admission and the sense of freedom that came with it.

She couldn’t get over how accustomed to the collar she’d become and how much she enjoyed the caress of the fine silver chain as it swung back and forth across her naked hips whenever she moved. It was a symbol of ownership, and Jarronn owned her. Not like a slave but as a treasured possession, and she liked how it felt to belong to him.

A sly grin curved the corner of her mouth. On occasion she deliberately disobeyed him, just so he’d spank her or use his red flogger. She never did anything that would cause him to award her a more severe punishment.
Cripes,
she certainly didn’t want to end up in that damn turret again. But sometimes she’d climax without permission or she’d let a moan slip out when he told her not to. She had the feeling that he enjoyed dealing out those lesser punishments as much as she enjoyed receiving them.

She smiled at the beauty of her own private kingdom view. It was far different from what she’d grown up with in San Francisco. No streetlights, cars, or stoplights. No sirens, no roar of traffic, no trolley clanging and clattering along the tracks.

But of course all the things she loved about the City by the Bay were not here, either. She missed walking along Ocean Beach on a Saturday morning with the thick fog rolling out, the view of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz from the Pier, the tremendous diversity of people and cultures. Diversity existed here, but there was not a mixture of cultures as everyone had apparently been born and raised in Tarok.

If she stayed here in this wonderland she’d never see her twin, Alexi, again, and they had always been so close. Not to mention she missed her cousin, Annie, her aunt, Awai, and her best friend, Maryam.

What were all the people she cared about thinking? That maybe she’d been murdered and tossed into the San Francisco Bay? Alice hated the thought of her loved ones being worried over her and she wished she could have her small circle of family and friends here with her.

An ache blossomed in her chest and she bit back the sudden urge to cry. For not the first time since arriving in this beautiful but bizarre world, Alice felt a sense of homesickness settling in her belly.

At the same time she was torn by her enjoyment of this land and what she’d experienced so far. Even though she hadn’t been here very long, she felt like she had been here for months.

Alice also had to admit that she certainly didn’t miss a culture that dismissed its heavier citizens. Hers was culture that ridiculed people of size and constantly forced weight loss advertisements on them. Of course all the ads had perfect-bodied mannequins who made a gal with extra pounds want to go out and eat a whole damn cheesecake just for spite.

Yeah, Tarok could certainly be a much better place to live. If only she had all the people she loved here to share it with.

Turning her back on her view, Alice went around the room and snuffed out the candles save the one beside her bed. After she crawled beneath the soft quilted cover, she blew out the candle and lay on her back. For a while she stared at the ceiling, thinking about her friends and her small family, but mostly about Alexi. How was she doing? She’d always been overprotective, and now she must be thinking that Alice had been kidnapped or murdered.

A hot tear rolled down her cheek and she brushed it away with the back of her hand and snuffled. If only there was a way to bring Alexi here, everything would be perfect.

Alice had a thought that gripped her heart tight. If this was truly a perfect world, maybe Jarronn would even fall in love with Alice.

A cold and harsh wind swept through the window and Alice shivered beneath her cover.

“Wake up, Alice dear!” a woman cooed in a singsong baby voice. "You are such a lazy and fat girl that you would just sleep the day away if I allowed you to.”

Confusion swirled through Alice as she slowly eased up in bed and stared at the slender woman standing by the window, the sheer curtains flapping behind her in the chill wind. Golden moonlight and the glow of candles illuminated the woman’s features.

Alice caught her breath. It was the same woman she had seen her first night here. It was Mikaela, the blonde who had promised she would return for Alice. The one Alice thought was Jarronn’s sister.

The woman wore the same catsuit, or a similar one, with a deep V neckline that plunged so low that the tiger’s paw tattoo around her navel could clearly be seen.

Mikaela snapped a leather whip and snarled. With a gasp, Alice recoiled and her stomach clenched. Mikaela had said she was Alice’s friend that first time she’d appeared at the window. She had said she would help Alice escape.

“But you don’t want to leave now, do you?” The woman sneered, clearly reading Alice’s thoughts. “You have fallen for Jarronn’s charms, even though they are not real.”

As Mikaela snapped the whip in the air, Alice had no doubt that if given the chance the woman would flay Alice until her skin was bloody.

“Fat bitch. ” Mikaela curled her lip and lashed the whip again. It was so long that Alice felt the movement of it through the air and the sting of leather against her cheek.

Alice cried out and brought her hand to her face and cradled it, as if that might protect her from Mikaela. “What are you doing in my room?”

“How could you ever think my brother, the High King, could love the likes of you?” Mikaela tossed her head and gave a wicked smile. “You’re fat and ugly and no one will ever love you.”

Lower lip trembling, Alice shook her head. “You’re wrong. I’m beautiful. And Jarronn does care for me. ”

“Sure he cares for you, for a fuck or a few.” Mikaela made a tsking sound and shook her head. “Alice, Alice. When will you learn that you’re just not good enough?”

Tears started rolling down Alice’s face and she could barely speak. “I—I’m not ugly.”

“Why do you think Steve and Jon cheated on you? Jarronn, too, will soon find a woman more to his liking. Perhaps he already has, these many long nights away from you. ”

Mikaela grinned, her expression triumphant. “You’re nothing, Alice. A big, fat nothing. ”

“No!” Alice bolted upright in bed, her cheeks wet with tears, and she blinked at the sheer curtains lying completely motionless to either side of the window. She was still in her castle quarters and it was nighttime, but her candles were unlit and there wasn’t a whip-wielding woman standing in front of her window.

A sob burst from Alice. She wrapped her arms tight around her knees, buried her face against them, and cried.

It had only been a nightmare, but it had seemed so incredibly real. A lifetime of pain and hurts assaulted her, as though the woman from the dream had caused every last one to be unleashed.

No doubt Jarronn would marry someone slender and gorgeous who would be his queen. Alice would be sent away as his former submissive, or maybe he’d make her his servant, forcing her to do chores while he was with his queen.

An overwhelming feeling of despair filled Alice, weighting her entire body with shame, and she cried even harder. How could she have so easily believed that Jarronn could come to love her? There was nothing beautiful or special about her at all.

*

A powerful sense that something was wrong burst through Jarronn and jolted him from his sleep. He shifted into a tiger and loped through the castle to Alice’s quarters. Even before he got there, he sensed his warding had been breached. He bounded into the room and his gut clenched when he saw Alice huddled on her bed and heard her sobs.

Effortlessly Jarronn shifted into his human form. After lighting the room’s candles with his magic, he eased onto the bed beside his future queen and drew her into his arms. She startled, her body tense. It took some time but she finally allowed herself to relax against him.

“A nightmare?” He posed it as a question, but he knew the answer before she nodded. Her silken hair slid across his chest with the movement of her head. “I can’t hear you, Alice.”

“Yes, Milord.” She sniffed and tried to pull away. “I had a nightmare, but I…I’m fine.”

Every fiber of his being told him that she was not telling the truth and that she was not all right. “Explain to me what your dream was about.”

Alice sniffed. “I don’t want to talk about it, Milord.”

“You know better than to disobey my orders.” He brushed her hair from her face and tilted her head back, forcing her to look up at him. “Tell me every last detail of this dream.”

Her tears wet his chest and her voice trembled. “It was your sister, Mikaela.”

Stunned, Jarronn had no words as Alice continued.

“She came to me when I first got here and stood outside my widow.” Alice sounded like she was choking back a sob. “She said she was my friend.”

The shock that Mikaela had broken through his wardings twice nearly sent him reeling.

Alice continued to tell him about the dream of his sister and what Mikaela had said.

The bitch had indeed broken through all Jarronn’s protections and had used Alice’s insecurities to attack her. One night’s mind-spell should not do any permanent harm, but he would have to move quickly and forcefully to undo the damage Mikaela had done.

“Alice not only did you not tell me of Mikaela’s first visit, but you have broken your promise to me.” Jarronn kept his voice firm and his gaze steady as he studied her tear-drenched face. “You promised to love yourself, and that includes not allowing anything or anyone to cause you to feel otherwise.”